


Lost in Space

by thedevilchicken



Category: Star Wars (Marvel Comics), Star Wars: Poe Dameron (Comics)
Genre: Antagonism, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 07:37:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20188669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/pseuds/thedevilchicken
Summary: Poe thinks he knows how the First Order will fall.





	Lost in Space

**Author's Note:**

  * For [merle_p](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merle_p/gifts).

Poe thinks he knows how the First Order will fall, and it's not real likely to be because the Resistance beats it. There's way too few of them left for that. 

Right now, the Resistance is three things: the ones who escaped Crait, the ones who rescued them from Crait, and the handful of others who were someplace else at the time when what went down on Crait went down. Poe's got Snap and Jess and Karé and Sura, and he's grateful they all came back alive. He's got Finn and Rey, and BB-8 who likes them both maybe even more than he does (and he likes them a whole lot). He's got the General and maybe kinda Rose Tico, neither of whom are totally at their peak right now. 

Then there's a few others, sure, but they were never really an army to begin with, not like the Rebellion was back in the day. It's like the General says: everyone knew about the Empire, but the Resistance has been yelling into a void about some unseen menace where all people see is peace and prosperity. Now Hosnian's gone, people know, but the First Order's pretty much already won. He doesn't like to think like that, but optimism only gets you so far.

And then there's someone else. Someone he never expected to see again. Someone he'd been pretty sure was sipping cocktails at the far side of the universe by then, far from any of this First Order crap.

They lost a lot of good people on D'Qar. They lost a lot of good people on Crait. They lost Luke Skywalker, too, who Black Squadron pissed away all that time over, though Rey and the General just get all 'we just feel it in the Force' about it whenever anyone asks how exactly they know he's gone. Poe's pretty angry about that - it turned out he kinda liked Lor San Tekka and the guy died helping a resistance he wasn't even part of, and now Luke's gone, too. The General said something about it being important he met Rey, but Poe doesn't see it. Rey's pretty quiet on the subject. 

Terex, on the other hand, really isn't. He always has something to say.

They tried a few of their smaller resistance backup stations and found First Order troops waiting at the first three; at the fourth, they were running real low on fuel and had no choice but to land, First Order or no First Order. When they got inside, cautious, blasters drawn, there was Terex. He was alone in the command center drinking a cup of tea with his feet up on the console while three droids brought the creaky systems back online, alone except for six dead First Order troopers piled into a corner. Seemed like there'd been a welcoming party, and Terex had crashed it. Poe, with one hand on the hilt of his blaster, watched Terex glance at everyone who'd just come in through the door; he skimmed over Black Squadron, Lieutenant Connix, the General...then smiled when he got to Poe. 

"Did you miss me?" he asked. 

"Not exactly," Poe replied. "I liked you better when I thought you were dead." 

Terex put down his cup. Poe drew his blaster. The General, standing next to him, raised one hand and lowered Poe's blaster with her palm.

"I think we need to hear what Agent Terex has to say," she said, and Poe - as much as he hated it - knew she was right. Maybe he would've liked to've put a blaster bolt through the guy's smug face, but that didn't mean he should, not when they were running really low on options. 

They listened. Poe groaned. When the General asked him, "So, do you trust him?" Poe groaned again and said, "For once in his life, I think he's telling the truth." Would've been simpler if he hadn't been. They wouldn't be where they are now, ten months on since Crait, with everyone acting like they never tried to kill each other. _Multiple times_. And they wouldn't be about to die together in the Force-forsaken depths of space. 

That day in the base, Terex told them he'd left the First Order. He'd gone far away, and he'd watched events unfold, probably sipping cocktails just like Poe had thought. He'd tried to be pragmatic - after all, he'd been a true believer once - but when they blasted Hosnian, that was it, that was enough. He found the resistance. Turned out Phasma had pissed him off so hard with whatever she'd done that he was willing to switch sides and the hell of it was, Poe believed him. And sure, so it was only one guy, but that guy was _Terex_; maybe he wasn't with the First Order anymore, but that didn't mean he didn't still know things. He had contacts. So they fueled up Terex's ship with every last ounce of juice they'd got left and they went to call in a few favors. 

For ten months now, favors is what they've lived on. Till now. When they're gone, Poe's not sure how their people will survive. 

"There's something I really ought to tell you," Terex says. "Before we die such an ignominious death."

They're sitting on the deck in the small ship's cargo bay, boots off, flight suits peeled down to their waists, sweating like they're in the desert on Jakku. The engine core's so hot right now the ship's either going to blow or it's going to melt, but the effect will be the same either way. They can't get the core to eject. They're not carrying escape pods. Main power's shot and they're all alone 'cause Beebee's running around with Rey somewhere, infiltrating a First Order comms installation. She needed him more, Poe said, back at the base. He's kinda regretting that now 'cause who knows, even if the two of them can't get the hunk of crap to power up, maybe Beebee could've worked a miracle. 

"Yeah, what's that?" Poe asks. 

Terex smiles wanly and wipes the back of his neck with the trailing sleeve of his flight suit. "I still hate you," he says, and Poe laughs and peels his shirt up to swipe the sweat out of his eyes. He rakes his damp hair back from his face. He leans back against the bulkhead. He wipes his hands off on his undershirt. 

"I should tell you something, too," Poe says. 

"Oh yes?"

Poe moves. It takes effort; the cargo bay's the coolest part of the whole damn ship but it's still not _cool_, and they're running kinda low on air. Maybe that's why he straddles Terex's thighs and rests his sticky forehead down against his. Maybe he's on his way to full-blown delusion and that's why he brushes the ugly-ass scars on Terex's face with the back of his fingers, and maybe it's why Terex lets him though the look on his face says he hates it even while he's intrigued. Phasma's responsible for what happened to him; he knows because Terex told him and in this instance, he's got no real reason to lie except maybe out of some perverse love of lying. Weird as it is, Poe's pretty sure Terex quit lying to him months ago. Exaggerating, sure. He's still exaggerating his ass off, but he's not lying. 

"I did miss you," Poe says, and he's sure Terex knows exactly what he means even months after the fact. "I mean, mostly 'cause I wanted to kick your ass. But there it is." 

Terex chuckles lowly. He slides his hands over Poe's thighs. They settle at his waist and Poe only flinches slightly as his thumbs get underneath his shirt and rub his sticky skin. 

"I know," Terex replies, with that same cursed self-satisfaction as he always has. "But it's still touching to hear you say it." 

By the time Terex actually kisses him, Poe's actually expecting it. Maybe it's because he's expecting it that he doesn't knock him out. Maybe that's why when Terex pushes him down on the bare deck plates, Poe doesn't try to stop him. Or maybe it's the heat; that's absolutely why they start stripping off what's left of their clothes. It's not like he's wanted this for months, since he figured out murder was off the table. It's not like all the time they spend working together's gotten underneath Poe's skin till he's not sure if he wants to fight him or fuck him. Turns out one's more likely than the other after all.

And when they're done, even sweatier than before, hot and flushed and heavy in some stupid post-orgasmic, low-oxygen haze, Terex pulls back. He pulls his flight suit up to his waist and ties the arms around it like a belt, then he sits back down. He rubs the inside of one of Poe's ankles. 

"There's something else I should tell you," Terex says. 

"Yeah?"

He smiles. "I fixed the comms array forty minutes ago," he tells him. "Your friends are on their way." 

Poe stares at him. For a second, his temper flares up, but it's not even half as hot as the room they're sitting in. In the end, he laughs and kicks Terex in the thigh with one bare foot, not even hard enough to make him curse. He'd like to be angry, but it seems like way too much effort to rile himself up. Besides, he's pretty sure they just piss each other off for sport these days. He's pretty sure they've been dancing around this for months; all Terex has done is moved the timeline up.

Poe thinks he knows how the First Order will fall, and the Resistance won't be responsible. Nothing they've said has made even a bit of difference. Nothing they could do would make a dent. But Terex, well, once upon a time he believed in what the Order wants, and he can't be the only one who's seen them at their worst and left because of it. And maybe they'll seek out the Resistance and maybe they won't, but _they'll_ be the ones who bring the Order down. Poe wonders what they'll put up in its place, and if he'll even be alive to see it. 

He pulls up his flight suit and he pulls on his shirt and he slumps against the bulkhead next to Terex. Sometimes it still feels weird not to want him dead. Sometimes he's still waiting for him to stab him in the back. Sometimes all he wants to do is kiss him just to wipe that damned smug smile right off his face. And okay, so maybe he's been tricked into this, and okay, so maybe they're not going to move into the same room once they get back to the base, and that's not even because there's maybe forty more empty rooms than they need for the people they've got. He doesn't want to lie awake listening to Terex snore, 'cause there's always a danger he'd smother him in his sleep. Terex hasn't changed; he's just changed sides.

But the fact is they've been trying to figure out how they fit together now they're sharing a side for the best part of the past ten months. And, right now, Poe figures maybe this is it.


End file.
